Bunléitheoireacht Ghalach a Cóig le Mícheál Rhodes

Here is the Elementary IG Reading # 5. This is an old folk story taken from
Douglas Hyde's book "Le hAis na Teineadh" - Beside the Fire. I have
standardized the spelling somewhat, but have left the old pre-1948
spellings. Most of the older literature is written with this older spelling
and it is good to get used to it. I have put a vocabulary at the end of this
piece that gives the modern spelling equivalents of the earlier spellings in
the text.

The Burial of William O'Rooney

In the old times there was a man by the name of William O'Rooney living
near Clair-Galway. He was a farmer. One day the landlord came to him and
said, "You owe me rent (1) for three years, and if you still owe it to me
at the end of a week, I will throw you out on the side of the street."

"I'm going to Galway tomorrow with a load of wheat to sell, and when
I get its worth, I will pay you," said William.

In the morning the next day, he put a load of wheat on the cart and he
was going to Galway with it. When he was about a mile and a half from the
house, a gentleman came to him and asked him,"Do you have wheat on the
cart?"

"Yes," said William, "I'm going to sell it (2) to pay my rent."

"How much for it?" said the gentleman.

"There's an honest ton there," said William.

"I'll buy it from you," said the gentleman, "and I'll give you more than
it's worth in the market. When you come as far as the little cart path which
is on your left, turn in and go until you come to a large house which is in
a valley, and I will then meet you (3) to give you your money."

When William came as far as the path, he turned in, and he was going
until he came as far as a large house. William was astonished when he saw
the large house, for he was born and raised (4) in the neighborhood, and he
had never seen the large house before, although he knew every house within
five miles of him.

When William came neart the barn which was next to the large house, a
small boy came out and said, "A hundred thousand welcomes to you, William
O' Rooney," put a sac on his back and took it inside. Another small boy
came out, greeted William, put a sack on his back and went inside with it.
There were boys coming, greeting William, and taking a sack with them, until
the ton of wheat was gone. Then more boys came before him, and William said
to them: "All of you know me, and I don't know any of you." Then they said
to him, "Come in, and eat your dinner, the master is waiting for you."

William went in and he sat down at the table. He had not eaten the
second bite until a heavy sleep came upon him, and he fell down on the table.
Then the wizard made a false man (that looked) like William, and sent it home
to William's wife, with the horse, and with the cart. When he came to
Williams's house, he went up into the (bed)room, lay upon the bed, and died.

It was not long until the report went out that William O'Rooney was dead.
The wife put water down (on the fire) and when it was hot, she washed the
body and put it over the board (i.e. layed it out). The neighbors came and
keened sadly over the body, and there was great sorrow for the poor wife,
but she was not so sorrowful herself, because William was old and she herself
young. The next day, they buried the body and there was no more remembrance
of William.

William's wife had a hired man and she said to him, "You should marry
me and take (5) William's place."

"It's too soon still, after there has been a death in the house," said
the hired man, "wait until William has been buried for a week."

When William had been asleep for seven days and seven nights a small boy
came and woke him. Then he said to him, "You've (6) been sleeping for a week.
We sent your horse and your cart home. Here's your money, now go."

William came home, and since it was late in the night, no one saw him.
In the morning of that day William's wife and the hired man had gone to the
priest and asked him to marry them.

"Do you have the marriage money? (7) said the priest.

"No," said the woman, "but I have a whopper of a pig at home and I'll
let you have it in place of money."

The priest married them, and said, "I will send for (8) the pig tomorrow."

When William came to his own door, he knocked on it. (9) The woman and
the hired man had gone to bed, and they asked, "Who's there?"

"It's me," said William. "Open the door for me."

When they heard the voice, they knew that it was William who was there,
and his wife said, "I can't (10) let you in, and it's a great shame for you
to be coming back after you've been in the grave seven days."

"Are you crazy?" said William.

"No, I'm not crazy," said the woman, "Everyone in the parish knows that
you died and that I buried you in a seemly manner." Go back to your grave,
and I will have mass said for your poor soul tomorrow."

"Wait until the light of day comes," said William, "and I'll give you
your a reward for your joking!"

Then he went int the stable, where his horse and pig were, lay downe in
the straw, and fell asleep.

In the morning on the next day,the priest said to the small boy he had,
"Go to William O'Rooney's house and the woman I married yesterday will give
you a pig to bring home with you."

The boy came to the door of the house and began to knock on it (11) with
a stick which he had. The woman was afraid to open the door, but she asked,
"Who's there?"

"It's me," said the boy, "The priest sent me to get a pig from you."

"It's out in the stable," said the woman.

The boy went into the stable and began to drive the pig out, when William
rose up and said, "Where are you going with my pig?"

When the boy saw William, off he went, (12) and he didn't stop until he
came to the priest with his heart coming out of his mouth with fear.

"What's the matter with you?" (13) said the priest.

The boy told him that William O'Rooney was in the stable, and would not
let him take the pig with him.

"Keep quiet (14), you liar," said the priest, "William O'Rooney is dead
and in the grave for a week.

"Even if he had been dead seven years, I saw him in the stable a couple
of moments ago, and if you don't believe (it), go yourself, and you will see
him.

Then the priest went and the boy with him to the door of the stable, and
the priest said, "Go in and bring that pig out to me."

"I wouldn't go in for someone of greater worth than you," said the boy.

The priest went in then and he was driving the pig out, when William
rose up from the straw and said, "Where are you going with my pig, Father
Patrick?"

When the priest saw William rise, off he went, saying: "In the name of
God I order you back to the grave William O'Rooney."

William began to run after the priest saying, "Father Patrick, are you
crazy? Wait and speak to me."

The priest didn't wait, but went home as fast as his feet could carry
him, and when he came in, he shut the door. William was beating on the door
until he was exhausted, but the priest would not let him in. Finally, he
stuck his head out of the window which was high up on the house and said,
"William O'Rooney, go back to your grave."

"You're crazy, Father Patrick. I'm not dead, and I have never been in
a grave since I left my mothers womb," (15) said William.

"I saw you dead," said the priest, "You died suddenly and I was nearby
when you were put in the grave, and I gave (literally "made") a fine sermon
over you."

"You certainly (16) are crazy as surely as I am alive," said William.

"Get out of my sight now and I will say mass for you tomorrow," said
the priest.

William went home and knocked on his own door but the woman would not
let him in. Then he said to himself, "I'll go and pay my rent." Everyone
who saw William on the road going to the (land)lord's house ran from him,
because they thought that he had died. When the landlord heard that William
O'Rooney was comming, he shut the doors and would not let him in. William
began to beat on the big doors until the (land)lord thought that he would
break them in. The (land)lord came to a window which was high up on the
house, and he asked, "What do you want?"

"I came to pay my rent, like an honest man," said William.

"Go back to your grave, and I will give you pardon (for the rent)," said
the (land)lord.

"I won't leave this (place) until I get a written document from you that
I am paid up in full, until next May."

The (land)lord gave him the written document, and he went home. He
knocked on the door, but the woman would not let him in, saying to him that
William O'Rooney was dead and buried, and that there was only a liar at the
door."

"I'm not a liar," said William, "I'm have just paid three years' rent to
my master, and I will have possession of my own house, or I will know why!"

He went to the barn, and he found a large bar of iron, and it was not
long until he broke in the door. The womand and the newly married man were
terribly afraid. They though that they were in the resurrection and that the
end of the world was coming.

"Why did you think I was dead?" said William.

"Doesn't everyone in the parish know that your are dead?" said the woman.

"To hell with you!" said William, "You've been joking with me long enough.
Get me something to eat."

The poor woman was very frightend and she prepared (17) food for him,
and when she saw him eating and drinking, she said, "It's a miracle!"

Then William told her his story, from beginning to end, and when he had
told everything, he said, "I will go to the grave tomorrow, so that I can
see the scoundral which you buried in my place."

The next day William took some people with him, and he went to the
graveyard, and they opened the grave, and they were going to open the coffin,
and when they were lifting it up, a large, black dog leaped out, and away he
went with William and the other men after him. They were following it until
they saw it goining into the house which William had slept in. The the
ground opened and the house went down, and no one has seen it since, but
there is a large hole to see up to this day.

When William and the young men went home, they told everything to the
parish priest, and he dissolved the marriage which had been between William's
wife and the hired man.

William lived on for years after this, and he left a great fortune after
him, and he is still remembered in Clair-Galway, and will be forever, if this
story goes from the old men to the young men.

Notaí Gramadúla

(1) In Irish "you owe me something" is literally "something is with me
(agam) on you (ort).

(2) Literally "I am going at its selling."

(3) Literally "I will then be before you."

(4) rugadh and tógadh are past autonomous forms. Note that the subject of
the autonomous form is "é, í, and iad" in the third person.

(5) Note that the preposition dóa is missing before the verbal noun, but
the lenation indicates its presence.

(6) táir = tá tú

(7) Bhfuil = an bhfuil. In colloquial speech, the interrogative particle "an"
is often dropped but the eclipsis it causes is still present

(8) Literally "I will put knowledge on" an idiom in Irish which means to
send for or summon.

(9) Literally "He struck a blow on it."

(10) "Ní thig liom" means "I can't", where "tig" is an old form for
"tagann".

(11) Literally "began its knocking."

(12) "as go brách leis" is an idiom for "off he went" literally "off
with him forever"

(13) Literally "What's on you?"

(14) This should be "bí" not "bhí", the imperative form.

(15) Should be "broinn" instead of "bronn" but that is what the text has.

(16) The idomatic use of "Diabhal" like this is quite common.

(17) This should be "gléas" not "gléar" -- I miscopied it (in the old
Irish alphabet, r and s look a lot alike).